not fall into the sphere of what is known as “alternative medicine”, but is
rather a complementary but different medical system that uses medicine in
a more or less conventional manner for the treatment of diseases. It
employs, in a fundamental sense, the same basic methods as Western medi-
cine, with additional contributions from the spiritual dimension, which
gives the healing depth and meaning within the African cosmology and
experience. It cannot be reduced to simple herbalism... and should not be
seen as a substitute for qualitative health care for the rural poor, or (in the
name of conservation of cultural diversity) be misconstrued by politicians as
a social alibi to mask the inadequacies of public health programmes. It is
only one possible tool in health care’.
The South African Draft National Policy (2008) on African Traditional
Medicine explicitly states that, while aiming at the institutionalisation of
traditional medical practice, it does not envisage integration of traditional
medical practice within the allopathic system; the intention is that the two
systems will function side by side under the state healthcare umbrella.
According to Mahunnah et al.^36 Tanzania, with an established National
Traditional Practitioners’ Association (regulating registered TPs) and a
Traditional Health Practitioners’ Council (regulating the registration of
both practitioners and herbal medicines), offers an example of successful
integration.
Equitable distribution of benefits with respect to indigenous knowledge
systems
While it is widely acknowledged that indigenous knowledge merits protec-
tion and that the holders of such knowledge are entitled to benefits derived
from its use, there is no consensus at present as to how this is best achieved.
Although a commonly followed route lies via intellectual property (IP) law,
it is not generally accepted that patents, trade marks and copyright are
appropriate to indigenous knowledge systems (IKSs).37,38The IP approach is
embodied in Article 27.3 (b) of the WTO (World Trade Organization)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)
Agreement and is integral to current WIPO (United Nations World Intellec-
tual Property Organisation) discussions.^39 African states seeking to protect
IKSs via this route would need to amend their national legislation accord-
ingly. The South African Patents Amendment Act No. 20 of 2005 seeks to
address the recognition of indigenous knowledge via IP law, in that it
requires patent applications to state whether indigenous knowledge consti-
tutes a component of the application and, if so, whether the applicant has
the authority to make use of this knowledge.
Critics of the IP approach argue that western legal and economic defi-
nitions pertaining to property in general and intellectual property in partic-
ular do not recognise the validity of ancient customary laws, philosophies,
100 | Traditional medicine